Casting apparatus for casting large-sized ingots

ABSTRACT

A casting apparatus, in which molds are arranged radially and in a circle about a crucible, and molten metal is supplied from the crucible to the molds by a pivotable trough rotatable with respect to the crucible and vertically displaceable at its foremost part. A fume discharge device is provided to the apparatus, which comprises a hood rotatably displaceable over the molds.

"United States Patent Furuse et al. Dec. 2, 1975 [54] CASTING APPARATUSFOR CASTING 1,553,849 9/1925 Comes 164/326 X LARGE SIZED INGOTS1,726,581 9/1929 Orbin.... 164/337 X 2;197,259 4/1940 Nead 4 266/15 1Inventors: Takashi Furuse: Saehio Kamata; 2.982.534 5/1961 Meffert164/337 x Kunio Sekine; Koichi Sato, all of 3.200.451 8/1965 Worswick164/326 X Akita, Japan 3,379.426 4/1968 Rcuter 266/31 3,380,371 4/1968Scheel... 266/31 X 1 1 Asslgneel The DOWa Mining 6 Ltd, TOkyQ 3,648.7583/1972 Krcuz 164/337 x Japan 3,704,746 12/1972 Thompson 164/326 x [22]Filed: Feb. 6, 1974 Primary Examiner-Franc1s S. Husar 1 PP 439,858Assistant Examiner-John S. Brown Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Tqren, McGeadyand [30] Foreign Application Priority Data Stanger Feb. 19, 1973 Japan48-19178 Feb. 28, 1973 Japan 48-23246 [57] ABSTRACT A casting apparatus,in which molds are arranged radi- 521 US. Cl. 164/337; 164/326 y and ina circle about crucible and molten metal [51] Int. Cl. B22D 37/00; B22D39/00; is supplied from the crucible to the molds by a pivot- 3221) 5/02able trough rotatable with respect to the crucible and 58 Field ofSearch 164/326, 336. 337, 325. vertically displaceable at its foremost pA fume die 1 4 32 33 4,3 2 5 31 charge device is provided to theapparatus, which comprises a hood rotatably displaceable over the 1References Cited molds.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 6 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures 117,968 8/1871Bessemer 164/337 US. Patent Dec. 2, 1975 Sheet 2 of3 3,923,094

TTY

US. Patent Dec. 2, 1975 Sheet 3 of3 3,923,094

CASTING-APPARATUS FOR CASTING LARGE-SIZED INGOTS Owing to the tendencytowards a large size equipment of the consumers of the metal and alloys,the final products in metal refinery. there is an increasing demand forlarge-sized ingots that can saveman-power in transport and handling thanthe small-size slabs. This invention has been made to meet this demandand to provide a device for casting large-size ingots.

In the drawing which illustrates an apparatus made in accordance withthis, invention;

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the apparatus for casting a large sized ingot,

FIG. 2 is a side elevation thereof and,

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of casting mold and ingot raiser unitthereof.

The apparatus of this invention is described by referring to FIGS. 1 and2. Said apparatus comprises generally a casting unit and fume dischargeunit.

I. Casting unit a. The molds 13 are arranged circularly and radiallyabout a crucible 6. The crucible 6 is thus placed ,in the center of themolds and carried rotatably by a bearing 8 and a swingable metallicfixture 9. The crucible 6' is also fitted with a burner 5.

-b.- The blending oven 1 is disposed at an elevation and outside acircular set of casting molds 13. A metal pump 2 is suspended and dippedin the oven.

c. The molten metal is transferred from oven 1 to a fixed trough 4 viaan outlet tube 3 by operation of the metal pump 2, and introduced intothe crucible 6. The trough 4 is fixed with a convenient gradient.

d. The molten metal is cast into the mold 13 from the crucible 6 andthrough a rotatable trough 7 as it is kept from cooling by the burner 5.The rotatable trough 7 is connected'at one end to the crucible 6 and ledat the other to the mold 13. The end of the trough on the side of themold 13 is connected to and supported by-the head of piston rod 12 of acylinder 11. A travelling truck 10 travels on a rail 14 arranged in acircle with crucible 6 (that is, its bearing 8) as centre.

The trough 7 can thus be swung together with crucible 6 about thecrucible 6, and simultaneously, the end thereof on the side of the mold13 can be moved vertically by cylinder 11 and piston 12 for changing itsgradient.

e. The casting mold l3 see FIG. 3 is suspended in a water tank 15 (onewater tank each is provided to the casting mold) and is separable fromthe water tank 15 to permit replacement and interchange of the castingmold 13. Two rod seats 28 are provided on the bottom of the casting mold13, with the rod seats 28 also passing through the bottom of the watertank 15 and kept in stability in sealing relation with the water tank 15by means of a shield rubber 29, an asbestos ring 30, and a keep metalfitting 31.

A raiser rod 27 having a curved head configuration is inserted in eachrod seat 28 of the casting mold 13. The taper part 27' of the head partof each raiser rod 27 is machined to fit the rod seat 28 to prevent theleakage of molten metal poured into the mold 13. The water tank 15 isprovided with a cooling water inlet 16, a cooling water outlet 16 and adumper 32 for adjusting the cooling water level. A cooling water piping,not shown. and a sprinkler for cooling the surface of molten metal, alsonot shown, are provided to the outside of the tank. A pit 35 is formedbeneath the casting mold 13. The pit 35 is arranged in a circle aboutthe crucible 6 and contiguous to the lower parts of the molds 13. Thewater tank 15 of the casting mold 13 with the casting mold l3 enclosedtherein is secured so as to be suspended from the pit 35. In theinsideof this pit 35, there is a rail 24, on which an electrically drivenraiser truck 23 is self-propelled in a remote control system. The raisertruck 23 has raiser unit comprising a cylinder 25, a raiser metalfitting 26, a guide rod 33 for holding it stability, and a guidev rodbearing 34. This raiser unit operates for raising the lower ends of tworods 27 of the casting mold 13 with its raiser metal fitting 26 fortaking out the solidified ingot out of the mold 13. II. Fume dischargeunit (cf. FIGS. 1 and 2):

It comprises a hood l7, ducts 19, 19, pivot shaft 18, a fixed duct 40,and a turbo-fan; not shown, with the suction opening of the hood 17opening obliquely as shown to a large extent so as-to cover the mold 13.The pivot shaft 18 is normally situated above, the center of the groupof casting molds 13, that is the crucible 6, in a manner so that a largequantity of water vapor generated at the time of ingot cooling isdischarged by suction from the mold 13 in question by revolving the hood17 about the pivot shaft as desired together with the duct 19'. Y

This fume discharge unit except the turbo-fan and the fixed duct 40,namely the ducts 19,,19, hood 17 and the pivot shaft 18, are carriedwith arm 41 by a separate pivot shaft 22 arranged outside the circular.molds 13. In case of necessity, as ,when replacing or making repair workof the crucible 6, the overall components can be swung to the desiredpositionwith pivot shaft 22 as centre. The numerals 39, 18 denote slideconnections. I

In FIGS. 1 and 2, an operatingrod 36 for displacing the pivotable troughis provided to the: truck 10 of the pivotable trough 7 is mounted so asto bestride. the mold 13 and has the shape as shown, with its one endbeing securedto the movable truck 10 and the other being situated on,the floor by the wheel 37. This rod, also used as a safety fence duringoperation, is fitted with a remote-control switch 38. This switch 38takes charge of all other operations other than the actuation of theburner 5 and swiveling of the trough 7 and the hood 17.

The casting apparatus operates as follows:

Before starting the operation, the burner 5 of the crucible 6 isignited. The aim of this operation is to prevent the molten metal fromcooling and so the burner is kept ignited until the end of the castingoperation. The pivotable trough 7 is moved with the truck 10 by pushingthe operating rod 36 until the end of the trough fronts to the mold 13in operation. The gradient is regulated by the switch 38. The switch 38is manipulated to start metal pump 2. The molten metal contained in theoven 1 is supplied to the crucible 6 by way of outlet tube 3 and fixedtrough 4. The metal is further supplied to and poured into the mold 13,as it is kept from cooling at the crucible.

The operation of the metal pump 2 is stopped when the metal is filled inthe mold 13. As it takes some time until the metal is completelysupplied to the mold, the trough 7 is raised at some convenient time bymanipulating the cylinder 11 and excess molten metal is returned to thecrucible 6. In this state, the trough 7 is moved to a further mold 13 byoperation of the rod 36,

and metal pouring is performed in the above-mentioned manner. The timeloss caused at the start of casting may be reduced due to some metalleft in the crucible 6. After pouring metal into the mold 13, the watertank in which the mold 13 is dipped is supplied with water. Coolingwater is discharged from inlet 16 into outlet 16' as it is regulated inits level by dumper 32 and as it cools the periphery of the mold 13.

The surface of molten metal is simultaneously cooled with cooling waterby using a sprinkler. At this time, as a large quantity of vapor isproduced, the hood 17 is moved and the turbofan operated by manipulationof the switch 38 for discharging the vapor by the fume discharge unit.

When the molten metal poured into the mold 13 has been fully solidified,the raiser truck 23 in the pit 35 is self-propelled to a positiondirectly below the mold in question and there stopped. Next, thecylinder 25 is actuated so as to raise the ingot in the mold 13 by theraiser metal fitting 26 and raiser rod 27. This operation is takencharge of by the switch 38. The ingot so raised is transferred to thestorage station by a crane or a fork lift, not shown.

While the hood [7 and the pivotable trough 7 are moved or pivotedmanually, they may also be remote controlled electrically.

According to this invention, a large-sized ingot can thus be castefficiently.

What is claimed is:

1. Casting apparatus comprising crucible means including heating meansand pump means for supplying molten casting material, a plurality ofmolds arranged in an arcuate pattern about said crucible means, alongitudinal trough having a first end located to receive said moltencasting material from said crucible means and a second end located todeposit said molten casting material into said molds, means mountingsaid trough at said first end thereof relative to said crucible means toenable both rotation of said trough about a vertical axis and tilting ofsaid trough about a horizontal axis, means for effecting rotation ofsaid trough about said vertical axis to direct said second end of saidtrough to 4 a selected one of said plurality of molds to deposit saidmolten casting material therein, and means for effecting tilting of saidtrough about said horizontal axis to start and terminate flow of saidmolting casting material from said crucible means to a selected mold.

2. Casting apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said means forrotating said trough about said vertical axis comprise a movable trucktravelling upon an arcuate rail extending about said crucible means andwherein said means for tilting said trough about said horizontal axiscomprise cylinder means mounted upon said truck.

3. Casting apparatus according to claim 1 including fume discharge meanscomprising a turbo-fan, a hood located above said molds and movablealong said arcuate pattern of said molds about first pivot means locatedabove said crucible means, and duct means connected in said hood at saidfirst pivot means, said duct means extending into pivotable connectionbetween said first pivot means and second pivot means located away fromsaid first pivot means to enable access to said crucible means forreplacement and repair thereof by swinging of said fume discharge meansabout said second pivot means.

4. Casting apparatus according to claim 2 comprising an operating rodhaving switch means thereon, said switch means being effective to enableremote operation by manipulation of said switch means of said truck andsaid cylinder means mounted thereon.

5. Casting apparatus according to claim 4 including driving means forsaid truck remotely operated by said switch means.

6. A casting apparatus as claimed in claim 1, in which each castingmolds is separably suspended in a water tank and provided at its bottomwith ingot raiser rods passed through the water tank, the molds arecarried together with the water tank in a pit formed in a circleconsecutively below each molds, and said raiser rods are verticallyoperable by driving means mounted on a truck which travels in the pit.

l l l= l

1. Casting apparatus comprising crucible means including heating meansand pump means for supplying molten casting material, a plurality ofmolds arranged in an arcuate pattern about said crucible means, alongitudinal trough having a first end located to receive said moltencasting material from said crucible means and a second end located todeposit said molten casting material into said molds, means mountingsaid trough at said first end thereof relative to said crucible means toenable both rotation of said trough about a vertical axis and tilting ofsaid trough about a horizontal axis, means for effecting rotation ofsaid trough about said vertical axis to direct said second end of saidtrough to a selected one of said plurality of molds to deposit saidmolten casting material therein, and means for effecting tilting of saidtrough about said horizontal axis to start and terminate flow of saidmolting casting material from said crucible means to a selected mold. 2.Casting apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said means for rotatingsaid trough about said vertical axis comprise a movable truck travellingupon an arcuate rail extending about said crucible means and whereinsaid means for tilting said trough about said horizontal axis comprisecylinder means mounted upon said truck.
 3. Casting apparatus accordingto claim 1 including fume discharge means comprising a turbo-fan, a hoodlocated above said molds and movable along said arcuate pattern of saidmolds about first pivot means located above said crucible means, andduct means connected in said hood at said first pivot means, said ductmeans extending into pivotable connection between said first pivot meansand second pivot means located away from said first pivot means toenable access to said crucible means for replacement and repair thereofby swinging of said fume discharge means about said second pivot means.4. Casting apparatus according to claim 2 comprising an operating rodhaving switch means thereon, said switch means being effective to enableremote operation by manipulation of said switch means of said truck andsaid cylinder means mounted thereon.
 5. Casting apparatus according toclaim 4 including driving means for said truck remotely operated by saidswitch means.
 6. A casting apparatus as claimed in claim 1, in whicheach casting molds is separably suspended in a water tank and providedat its bottom with ingot raiser rods passed through the wAter tank, themolds are carried together with the water tank in a pit formed in acircle consecutively below each molds, and said raiser rods arevertically operable by driving means mounted on a truck which travels inthe pit.